$82,000 lost in Audi dream car deal

IT executive Jim Fisher thought he was buying his dream car at a competitive price.

But despite handing over $82,000 for an Audi S3, plus $2000 deposit, he ended up with nothing.

Mr Fisher, 43, from Pyrmont, was in the District Court yesterday where he is suing the Audi Centre in Sydney for $84,000 plus legal costs and expenses after his promised German-made sports sedan was never delivered.

The March 2010 purchase went awry because rather than order his car direct from the dealership, Mr Fisher ordered it through a broker.

The broker, Christos Developments Pty, traded under the name New Cars Australia (NCA), run by Natasha Karamalis. NCA promised it would use its purchasing power to shop-around on Mr Fisher's behalf and get him a cut-price deal.

Natasha Karamalis, also known as Natasha Poulos, was sentenced to 8 months jail for fraud committed at NCR.The 28 year old from Bexley was sentenced at Bankstown Local Court on May 4 but the sentence was suspended and she was given an 8 month good behaviour bond.

In the case heard by District Court Judge Michael Bozic, Mr Fisher claims he handed the $82,000 to NCA after speaking with Audi sales executive, Tiffany Cooney. He claims Ms Cooney promised NCA was an "agent of" Audi, and she had done deals with NCA "all the time".

However, Ms Cooney told the court she had dealt with NCA at previous dealerships, but it was her first time while employed at Audi.

But three months after handing over the cash, NCA went bust. Unfortunately for Mr Fisher, NCA never passed on the purchase money to Audi.

Audi is defending the lawsuit, claiming NCA was never its "agent" and it should not be held liable for claims it "misled" Mr Fisher. Mr Fisher has only been able to claw back his $2000 deposit. The rest is still owing.

Ms Cooney, who now works for Lexus, told the court yesterday that she had sold cars through NCA "more than once" but "less than 50" times.

Alex Patsellis, who worked at NCA and was a director of Christos Developments, told the court he recalled Mr Fisher paying for the car, and giving Mr Fisher an invoice. Mr Patsellis resigned as director two months before the company went bust.

Judge Bozic has reserved his decision.

Mr Fisher wanted to buy the car from NCA in March 2010 to take advantage of a "free fuel" offer promoted by NCA.

Audi Sydney denies the dealership had previous dealings with NCA, or that NCA was Audi's "agent". It argues Mr Fisher should have paid it directly for the car.